Crazy Beautiful October

What a month October was! The beautiful leaves and colors only lasted a few weeks here in New England, and as I was on my walk with Jack yesterday (my Aussie mix), I was reminded again of Frost's poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay":

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay. 

I know there is much deeper, metaphorical stuff going on in this poem, but on the surface, it popped in my mind watching the remnants of the orange leaves cling on, while their counterparts had already fallen and died. This picture is from our walk on Oct 26, the day before it SNOWED here.

Oct 26:  Oct 27:

October is also my birthday month, and the best part of the month was seeing so many friends and spending time with them. 

 Wogging (walking/jogging) the Apple Harvest Fest 5k

Yummy Beef stew!

My last CSA haul from the farm

As the month came to a close, and November rolled around, my Reflective Teacher Planner reminded me to look back on my October Intentions, Reflections, and to plan ahead for November. As you can see, my real-life handwriting leaves something to be desired...but I've found (so far from doing it in Sept/Oct) that it really helps me stay focused on my goals when I force myself to write down intentions, reflect on them at the end of the month, and repeat them or add new ones for the next month. 

I use my quarterly goals to help make my "Work and Club" goals (the club is Angela Watson's 40 Hour Teacher Workweek)

One of the main things I learned about myself over this past year is that if I don't write it down, it doesn't seem to happen--so I'm all about writing it down and self-accountability these days! November has some heavy goals, but I think I can do it. I already finished one book (play): Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I can't wait for the Fantastic Beasts movie to come out this month! I hope you all had a fantastic month, and are looking forward to what November holds.

 And, as a lasting thought: